Apparatus for cooling metal rods or bars



June 5, 1928. 1,672,061

J. R. GEORGE APPARATUS FOR COOLING METAL RODS OR BARS Filed April 13,1927 Patented June 5, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,672,061 PATENT OFFICE.

JEROME B. GEORGE, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO MORGAN CON-SYIBUCTION COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORIORATION O! MAB-SACHUSET'I'S.

APPARATUS FOR COOLINGIETAL RODS OR BARS.

Application fled April 13, 1927. Serial No. 188,597.

The present invention relates to' appa ratus for rapidly cooling hotmetal stock, such as rods, bars and the like, in order to minimize the.formation of scale on said stock in its passage from the rolling mill toa reel, cooling bed, or other receiving device.

In certain fundamental aspects, the apparatus of the present inventionemploys the principles that characterize the cooling apparatus of UnitedStates Letters Patent of A. '1. Bloom, No. 1,211,277, dated January 2,1917; the advantages and improvements which it secures are fully setforth in the following detailed description, having ref- 7 erence to theaccompanying drawings, in

which- V Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of apparatus embodyingthe invention, as up,- plied for example to the cooling of hot rods.Fig. 2 is a face view of one of the units of said apparatus as viewedfrom the line 22 of Fig. 1. a

Fig. 3 is a. cross sectional view of another 2 of said units, thesection being taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4: is a fragmentary sectional view on the l1ne 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures.

As set forth in the aforesaid Bloom patent, effective and rapid coolingof the hot rolled product, for the prevention of scale, cannot beobtained by causing it to be merely as pxpssed through or immersed inwater.

, hat is required for this cooling is forcible impact of water on thematerial,--and for this purpose the present invention provides anexceedingly simple, compact and 40 readily-assembled construction,adapted to secure impingment of the water on the hot material, in thiscase rods, in a plurality of surrounding inwardly-directed jets.

In Fig. 1, showing this construction, the 46 pipe or guide through whichthe hot rod travels on its way to the reeling devices, not shown, may beparted at any point in its length to provide suitably spaced sections 1and 2, the section 1, as shown, entering a guide bushing 3, and thesection 2 being secured, as by screw threads or the like, to a member orplate 4 which constitutes the forward end or headof the coolingapparatus proper. Said member 4 is centrally apertured at 5 for thepassage of the rod into guide section 2. To the said member 4, theseveral similarly apertured units of the apparatus, which, ashereinafter described, cooperate to produce the impinging water jets,are rigidly secured by a series of bolts 6, 6, here shown as four innumber, and serving to bind all the parts together with their aperturesin alinement.

Said jet-producing units are supplied in sets of two, a unit 7 and aunit 8, and as many of said sets as desired may be bound into theassemblage with the end plate 4 by the bolts 6, 6. Each unit or member7, in the form of .a substantially flat annulus pre sents opposite planesurfaces near its o'uter periphery, both front and rear, the former forcontact, as shown at 9, with the rear plane surface of end plate 4, andthe latter for contact, as shown at 10, with the front plane surface ofassociated unit 8. As shown at 9, Fig. 1,. the front plane surface ofthe next unit 7 is drawn into contact with the rear plane surface ofunit 8 of the preceding set, and this arrangement of alternating units 7and 8, throughout the length of the apparatus, is followed for as manysets of said units as may be "desired, two of such sets being shown inFig. 1, with the guide bushing 3 secured, as by screw threads or thelike, to the outside or rear unit 8 of the last set.

Each unit 7 at its central portion, in surrounding relation to the borefor the passage of the rod therethrough, is formed on its front facewith an annular projection 11, having a bevelled outer surface orperiphery, as shown at 12. On the rear face o. each member 7, thecentral bore spreads outwardly to form a, circular recess13, whose sidewalls diverge sufliciently to receive therein an annular projection 14on the front su face of'the associated member 8. On the rear surface ofeach member 8, the central bore spreads outwardly to form a recess withdiverging walls, as shown at 15, this recess adapted to receive, asshown, the projection 11 of the next member 7; and a recess 15,corresponding to recess 15, is formed centrally of the rear surface ofend plate 4 to receive the annular front projection 11 of the firstmember or unit 7.

The annular surface contacts 9, 9', 10, 10 between the several unitsthus assembled and drawn into engagement by the bolts 6 serve, as shown,to maintainnarrow annular spaces between the side walls or projections11 and 14 and the side walls of the recesses 15 and 13, respectively,within which said projections are received. These narrow annular spaces,in surrounding relation to the central bore through which passes theheated rod, are constricted, so as to serve as pressure nozzles for theimpingement of annular jets of water on said rod, and to this end,

*each set or pair of units 7 and 8 providing,

as described above, two of such annular nozzles, is adapted to besupplied with water under pressure for jet discharge through saidnozzles.

1 As shown in the drawings, each unit 7 provides an annular chamber orspace 16, to which water is supplied through a suitable inlet opening 17formed peripherally of said member. Each member 8 is formed with anannular water space or chamber 18, and the chambers lti'and 1-8 both areopen on the front surfaces of the members 7-and 8, re spectively. Aseriesof holes 19, 19, provided by each member or unit 7, establishcommunication between the water chamber 16 of said unit and the waterchamber of the associated unit 8, so that the water supplied through theinlet 17 to each member 7 distributes itself, as shown by the arrows onFig. 1, between the chambers 16 and 18 of two adjacent members or units7 and 8 of a set.

By the construction above described, the water supplied under pressureto each set or pair of units 7 and '8 is caused to impinge forcibly in aplurality of closely arranged surrounding annular jets, on the hot rodor bar which is moved at high speed through the passage formed by saidunits, when assemblecl in axial alinement. It is to be understood, ofcourse, that the invention is not confined to the cooling of rods, butis applicable to hot rolled stock of any crosssectional shape, it beingobvious that the nozzle-forming portions of the several units can bemade to conform substantially to any desired cross-section of stock, soas to deliver surrounding impinging jets of water on all surfaces ofsaid stock in its passage through saideunits. The construction is onethat is readily assembled and disassembled, and units may be added orremoved at the dis eretion of the operator, depending upon the degree ofcooling required. Or, if desired, any of the assembled units may berendered inoperative, merely by shutting off its individual watersupply. The ease with which the apparatus may be disassembled makes itpossible to get rid of a cobble or other obstruction in the rod in aminimum of time, and also facilitates cleaning of the ap paratus, andthe removal therefrom of any scale accumulation or foreign matter whichmayhave been carried to the interior thereof by the cooling water.

Said cooling water, by its tangential entrance under pressure to eachannular chamber 16, obtains a whirling motion in said but will deliversaid water to the chamber 30 j 18 in such a manner as to maintain saidmotion. The delivery of water from each new zleis thus maintained.uniform in quantity and velocity all around said nozzle, which is animportantteature, as otherwise the rod 35 would be pushed by thepressure of the water over against one. side or the other'of the passagesurrounded by said nozzles.

It is of particular advantage that the jets be closely grouped, asobtained in the prescut construction, as otherwise the cooling effect ofthe water delivered by a single jet would be largely lost, due toconversion into steam on striking the red-hot rod. Such close groupingis secured with nozzles of accurate construction, having machinedsurfaces between which the water flows outwardly, by the particularlyuseful multiple unit construction herein shown, which lends itself toany desired degree of cooling, con- 1 fined to whatever length orlengths the particular conditions may require.

I claim, i

1. In apparatus of the class described, a

plurality of apertured members secured-:to- 10 gether with theirapertures in alinement to provide a passage for the movement of hotmetal stock, and an annular water chamber in each of said members, eachchamber havnarrow annular space between the member containing saidchamber and an adjacent member.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a

plurality of apertured members with their apertures in axial alinement,vto provide a passage for the movement of hotmetal stock, each of saidmembers, in the vicinity of said passage, being spaeed'from the mem bersadjacent, to provide a restricted nozzle surrounding said passage, forimpinging a jet of cooling'water against said stock.-

3. In apparatus of the class described, a plurality of apertured memberswith their apertures in axial alinement, to provide a 125 passage forthe movement of. hot metal stock, each of said members, in the vicinityof said passagefbeing'spaced from the members adjacent, to provide arestricted nozzle surrounding" said passage, for impinging a The sameeffect is obtained-in the 7 mg an outlet to said passage through a jetof cooling water against said stock, and

I said members near their outer peripheries being in continuous surfacecontact, to prevent said cooling, water from flowingout- Wardly betweenthem.

4. In apparatus of the class described, a plurality of annular memberswith their bores in axial alinement, toprovide a passage for themovement of hot metal stock, a water chamber in each of said members,and each of said members having, in surrounding relation to saidpassage, an annular projection narrowly spaced from a correspondingrecess in the member adjacent,

under ressure to said chamber by tangential deivery thereto, therebythrough the whirling motion of said water, to obtain a uniformlydistributed flow from said annular nozzle.

6. In apparatus of the class described, a pair of adjacent members eachhaving an annular water chamber in surrounding relation to a passagethrough said members for the movement of hot metal stock, an annulardelivery nozzle from each chamber for impinging an annular surroundingjet of water on the stock in said passage, means for su plying waterunder pressure to one of said chambers by tangential delivery theretothereby through the whirling motion of said water, to obtain a uniformlydistributed flow from the annular nozzle of said chamber, and a passageconnecting said two water chambers, and slanted in the general directionof motion of said water, thereby to produce in the second chamber asimilar whirlin motion of the water.

Date this th day of March, 1927.

JEROME R. GEORGE.

